‘Lottery Winners on Acid’? Is that like ‘omigod they’re like lottery winners. On acid.’ Probably not what The Crimea’s writer/ singer Davey MacManus is getting at here. Whatever, the slightly forced lyrical quirkiness means it’s equalled by that of the sonic kind with queasy keyboard, guitar and xylophone creating a Flaming Lips-esque sickly sweetness. A laid-back song that meanders along at its own pace and perhaps that’s why it begins to bury itself in your head after a while and the chorus seems almost shout- a- song. Evidence of a developing song writing talent from a group around previously as The Crocketts.

It’s no surprise The Crimea are becoming popular in the USA. It’s difficult to find a more sun-drenched track than ‘Lottery Winners On Acid’ this side of The Magic Numbers, and such it’s no surprise Davey Macmanus claims he wrote the track on a remote beach in Australia. It’s delicate, it’s pretty, but it’s loud, boasting, and most importantly, it has a killer chorus – not the kind maybe we’ve been used to in 2005 – but infectious nonetheless.

The vocals falter in what feels the right places – rendering them vulnerable rather than strained, as has been perfected by the likes of Conor Oberst and Win Butler of late, leaving us asking only one question: why aren’t they releasing this in July?

What it is, right, we teleport pop from the future to the Slashmusic office using our minds, then we unleash our journalistic powers of stuff on each one to determine its fate as either world-conquerer or dumper-decorator.

This week, we mostly perused the delights of January 2006, and found that far from being a promising new world of future pop loveliness, it was a barren wasteland of dreary indie tedium. Sob! Apart from the Love Bites, that is…

Like an extra half hour in bed of a weekday, but with the knowledge that inevitably, an 8am dash to the freezing cold bathroom is looming are:

The Crimea ‘Lottery Winners On Acid’ (Warner)

What’s that sound? Is it the jingle of Santa’s sleigh bells? Nope, it’s the split opinion alarm! One of us jubilantly described this as “bloody brilliant!” to which another of us replied: “Get over it!” And another of us said: “I hope it doesn’t get beaten up by Morning Runner.” So do we – because being beaten up by Morning Runner would be right embarrassing, wouldn’t it?(Out on January 9)

If anyone ever asks you what love is, just go out and buy this single for them. Admittedly, someone asking such a deep question might not be satisfied with just a CD, but the lyrics encapsulate incomparably what being in love is like. The Crimea’s album, Tragedy Rocks, is one of my favourites of the year, and Lottery Winners On Acid is probably one of the best tracks on it. Perfect single material – jingly, jangly, funny, catchy, it has everything. Let’s be honest – can you think of a more euphoric state of mind than the title suggests?

Lead singer Davey MacManus has managed to pen a great song, and with it already getting plenty of radio airplay, this looks like being the single that really breaks them. The Crimea have been one of the best underground bands of 2005. With another tour early next year and plenty more decent songs left to release from the album, 2006 promises to be huge for them.

Euphoria manifests itself in many ways, but I doubt that it has ever been portrayed with the same dryness and laid back, Leonard Cohen approach than on this Davey McManus engineered offering.

Springtime piano´s, deft guitars and earthy, yet out of this world (or off this planet, whatever you prefer?) lyrics catapult The Crimea to the status of underrated and underexposed genius. This mesmerizing and refreshing Irish quartet continue to dazzle and puzzle listeners alike; one thing is for sure people will certainly take note after this offering.

After years of trying, knocking on doors and having them slammed shut in their faces, rising from the ashes of The Crockets, 2006 is going to be the year The Crimea become bona fide pop stars. With a sound that can best be described as a cross between The Flaming Lips and The Beach Boys, music which is so beautiful and uplifting you will find it impossible not to smile.

The Crimea have gained a reputation within the industry, they were handpicked to support Kings Of Leon, Dashboard Confessional and Ash. Before his untimely death John Peel described “Lottery Winners On Acid’ as one of the best songs he had heard in years.

The debut album “Tragedy Rocks’ is out now, with the single Lottery Winners On Acid being released in early January, sales for the album will increase, and it will become a must own album of the year.

From the world-beating Tragedy Rocks album, the best track. Swinging big tune, classy lyrics (‘everything she says, I was thinking anyway´) and shiny melodies. This deserves to be all over Radio Two, grabbing all those Magic Numbers fans while they wait for the next appearance from their idols. Lottery Winners manages to walk to high-wire between MOR appeal and indie class, leaving them with the same sort of left-field appeal as the Flaming Lips. Very much an individual vision, Davey MacManus´s world is a starry and amazement-filled ride.

The Crimea are what Athlete think they sound like in their thick, Virgin radio-addled minds. But whereas Athlete sound like the Beta Band writing the incidental music for a Clarks shoes commercial, Davey MacManus and Co. deal in the kind of skewed, glazed over and genuinely affecting indie rock that never goes out of fashion.

Pumped full of psychedelic wonder, ‘Lottery Winners On Acid’ should be the theme tune to your post Christmas/New Years comedown, tucking you in bed and giving you Lemsip whilst playing you your favourite Flaming Lips album. This is what smiling sounds like.